Matthew Sprange recently gave more information on the proposed second edition of the JP RPG when he posted on one of the Dredd fan groups. It really sounds great, and I hope they follow through with this... it might even be worth trying to incorporate some of these details into your existing campaign. Matthew said it was okay to post this here, so thanks Matthew.
Here is his email:
Hi guys,
This is, of course, something we have given a lot of thought to (but, I must stress, we are a long way from actually producing the proposed 2nd edition - perhaps we'll wait for the films to be released).
I am not wildly keen on outmoding every supplement players have already bought - each should have, at least, some relevance. The D20 System is also still the most popular rules set around and so I would not be so quick to dismiss it. Non-Dredd heads _do_ buy into the game and have allowed us to produce so much for it - it may not be easy to have it both ways
My current (main) problems with the rules as they stand are;
1. Overall complexity. Judge Dredd was the first RPG we produced and so while there are significant differences between it and standard D20, we were still a lot more conservative than we could have been. In particular, I would like to remove such things as Attacks of Opportunity (no real place for them in this sort of game), Bull Rushes, Disarming and bring everything together in a more unified (and simple) combat system.
2. Vehicle rules - some nice ideas in there but they are too much of a halfway house between using miniatures and not (though now we are producing JD miniatures, they may enjoy something of a renaissance).
3. Close the disparity between citizens and Judges. Judges should indeed get certain benefits for their unique training but with their additional equipment, there is no need for them to be combat monsters as well. I like the idea of a perp with a knife being some kind of threat.
4. I would like to focus more on characters in the new edition, rather than locations, as we have been doing - especially with the supplements. The plan here would be to focus the main rulebook on judges and judges alone. Supplements would concentrate primarily on characters and what they can do - so, one supplement may cover Psi Division, another the SJS, etc. That is not to say we would not have (say) a Cursed Earth book but it would no longer be the focus of the game. As things stand, there really is nothing for the players in the supplement range, which cannot be right. Perp-based campaigns would be a supplement too, allowing us to streamline the rulebook further. The Creeps chapter would be expanded to give a lot more variety.
5. Combat, automatic weapons and multiple attacks. That could do with another look
The current idea is to go with a much simplified D20 System, and produce it as an OGL book - so all the rules are contained in one volume. To this end, we may keep the six ability scores and the d20 task resolution, and leave everything else up for grabs. Skills may become 'binary', as I heard one writer put it - you either have them, or you don't. Feats are a nice system for introducing special abilities, so they may stay - but they will be bent a lot more towards the MC-1 setting. Thus a lot of the traditional D&D close combat based feats would disappear. Vehicle rules may be brought in closer to D20 Modern and Future, allowing a lot more compatibility (there is no way we can document every vehicle in MC-1 ourselves!). However, special attention needs to be paid to bikes and their use.
Just a few ideas we are floating round the office at the moment. If you fancy putting your oar in, be my guest!
Matthew
It sounds pretty good to me.
Arabin
Here is his email:
Hi guys,
This is, of course, something we have given a lot of thought to (but, I must stress, we are a long way from actually producing the proposed 2nd edition - perhaps we'll wait for the films to be released).
I am not wildly keen on outmoding every supplement players have already bought - each should have, at least, some relevance. The D20 System is also still the most popular rules set around and so I would not be so quick to dismiss it. Non-Dredd heads _do_ buy into the game and have allowed us to produce so much for it - it may not be easy to have it both ways
My current (main) problems with the rules as they stand are;
1. Overall complexity. Judge Dredd was the first RPG we produced and so while there are significant differences between it and standard D20, we were still a lot more conservative than we could have been. In particular, I would like to remove such things as Attacks of Opportunity (no real place for them in this sort of game), Bull Rushes, Disarming and bring everything together in a more unified (and simple) combat system.
2. Vehicle rules - some nice ideas in there but they are too much of a halfway house between using miniatures and not (though now we are producing JD miniatures, they may enjoy something of a renaissance).
3. Close the disparity between citizens and Judges. Judges should indeed get certain benefits for their unique training but with their additional equipment, there is no need for them to be combat monsters as well. I like the idea of a perp with a knife being some kind of threat.
4. I would like to focus more on characters in the new edition, rather than locations, as we have been doing - especially with the supplements. The plan here would be to focus the main rulebook on judges and judges alone. Supplements would concentrate primarily on characters and what they can do - so, one supplement may cover Psi Division, another the SJS, etc. That is not to say we would not have (say) a Cursed Earth book but it would no longer be the focus of the game. As things stand, there really is nothing for the players in the supplement range, which cannot be right. Perp-based campaigns would be a supplement too, allowing us to streamline the rulebook further. The Creeps chapter would be expanded to give a lot more variety.
5. Combat, automatic weapons and multiple attacks. That could do with another look
The current idea is to go with a much simplified D20 System, and produce it as an OGL book - so all the rules are contained in one volume. To this end, we may keep the six ability scores and the d20 task resolution, and leave everything else up for grabs. Skills may become 'binary', as I heard one writer put it - you either have them, or you don't. Feats are a nice system for introducing special abilities, so they may stay - but they will be bent a lot more towards the MC-1 setting. Thus a lot of the traditional D&D close combat based feats would disappear. Vehicle rules may be brought in closer to D20 Modern and Future, allowing a lot more compatibility (there is no way we can document every vehicle in MC-1 ourselves!). However, special attention needs to be paid to bikes and their use.
Just a few ideas we are floating round the office at the moment. If you fancy putting your oar in, be my guest!
Matthew
It sounds pretty good to me.
Arabin
